Salsa in Los Angeles

S

sixthsense

New Member
All the threads about salsa in Los Angeles that I could find contained a lot of out of date information so I created a new one. Here are a few places to go dance. I am down in OC and I only know about the long standing LA clubs.

Down in Orange County, here are a few places:
Fri - Tapas Bar & Grill 4253 Martingale Way Newport Beach 949-756-8194
Fri Sat - JC Fandangos 1086 N. Suite College, Anaheim 714-758-1057
Tues - Tia Juanas 14988 Sand Canyon Rd. Irvine 949-551-2998

In LA
Sun Tues - Stevens Steakhouse 5332 Stevens Place Commerce 323-723-9856
 
Any updates??

Sorry I keep popping in and out of DF, asking questions and not really contributing much....I haven't been on at all over the past year or so... :(

Anyway- I'm headed to OC for a week before I head off to backpack around Central and South America for 1-2 years...That being said, I'm in dire need of an amazing salsa night out before I go. I'm staying with some family in OC, and they've promised me one night out for salsa...so, I need to make it a good one!!

Any new clubs/updates/hot spots?? I really, really want to enjoy myself with some advanced dancers...AND kind of want to show off some of my salsa skeeelz (given some family will be there.) Hehe.

Thanks in advance!
 
Kindra said:
Sorry I keep popping in and out of DF, asking questions and not really contributing much....I haven't been on at all over the past year or so... :(

Anyway- I'm headed to OC for a week before I head off to backpack around Central and South America for 1-2 years...That being said, I'm in dire need of an amazing salsa night out before I go. I'm staying with some family in OC, and they've promised me one night out for salsa...so, I need to make it a good one!!

Any new clubs/updates/hot spots?? I really, really want to enjoy myself with some advanced dancers...AND kind of want to show off some of my salsa skeeelz (given some family will be there.) Hehe.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

I emailed a friend of mine who went to LA, and she sent me a list of places to go. She said she would get back to me on a few more spots, so I'll update when she does so.

As for places to go, these ARE THE BEST places to go on the designated nights:

Sundays & Tuesdays (MY FAVORITE SPOT): Stevens Steakhouse
5332 E. Stevens Place,
City of Commerce, CA
(323) 723-9856
www.stevenssteakhouse.com

Wednesdays: Monsoon Cafe (Really packed at first, but clears out later in the evening and all the "good" dancers show up and show off).
1212 3rd Promenade, Santa Monica, (310) 576-9996

Thursdays: Mama Juana’s (Alex Da Silva teaches here on a regular basis).
37007 Cahuenga Bl.
West Studio City
818-505-8636
www.mamajuanas.com

Fridays: JC Fandangos (a long drive for a lot of people, but really good live bands).
1086 N. Suite College, Anaheim
(714) 758-1057

Ill get back to you with another friday hot spot

Saturdays: The Granada -- I never went here, but I have heard its the place to be on Saturday.
17 S. First St., Alhambra, CA
626-227-2572

There are a couple other places that are good as well, which Ill have to get back to you with that. Mor Bar and Cock N' Bull I heard are awesome although I dont know when...

Places to avoid: The MAYAN...overpriced, too crowded and way too clubby.

Tell your friend to also check out Salsapower.com, although my list is the best one. If your friend is an on2 dancer, the places to go are Steven's on Tuesday and the Granada on Saturday. Mike Bello (www.mambofello.com), a on2 instructor also has a Sunday Social I think.
 
naturallove said:
Wednesdays: Monsoon Cafe (Really packed at first, but clears out later in the evening and all the "good" dancers show up and show off).
1212 3rd Promenade, Santa Monica, (310) 576-9996
Click to expand...
I am in LA for a couple of days and I checked out this venue tonight (thanks for the tip naturallove). OMG!!! I will never complain about crowded dance floors in NYC again. This floor was pretty packed; but I've danced on similarly crowded floors before with much less difficulty. People just had no concept of dance space. There were elbows, knees, heads, and heels flying everywhere. CBLs traveled across half the floor. The slot was a foreign concept. Guys were taking women who could only handle one turn and trying to crank them around 3 or 4 times, with the expected results. Crazy aerials were the order of the day.

It didn't seem like there was a much of a culture of floorcraft at all - more like people just expected to crash into each other and therefore didn't even blink when it happened. My partners would just spin me whenever, and if the lady behind me happened to be taking a (ginormous) backstep into my spin, well, too bad for both of us.

I did have one - just one! - really wonderful dance, somehow fit in the 15 minutes between the end of the boring lesson and the onset of madness. It made the whole night worthwhile. Thank you, dude with the German writing on your tee shirt. :)

I also got one total @sshat. He asked me near the end of one song, we only danced a few bars so I asked if he wanted to go through the next song. He said "so you like what you see, eh?" Whatever. Then when I missed a lead at one point he said "I am testing your limits." Thanks for letting me know, big guy. (He wasn't a great leader either, just so-so. I could tell you why I think I missed the lead but that would look petty, heh.) Then at one point when I followed something he must have thought was difficult he said "Good job!" in this really patronizing way. I wanted to paste him one.

I left at 11:15, so maybe things got better later (but several of the patrons told me the whole thing closes down by 12).

Thursdays: Mama Juana’s (Alex Da Silva teaches here on a regular basis).
37007 Cahuenga Bl.
West Studio City
818-505-8636
www.mamajuanas.com
Click to expand...
Somebody at Monsoon suggested I should check this place out tomorrow night. I do have a few hours to kill before my plane leaves but I'm not sure I want to get on a redeye all sweaty, so I might have to pass.
 
noobster said:
I am in LA for a couple of days and I checked out this venue tonight (thanks for the tip naturallove). OMG!!! I will never complain about crowded dance floors in NYC again. This floor was pretty packed; but I've danced on similarly crowded floors before with much less difficulty. People just had no concept of dance space. There were elbows, knees, heads, and heels flying everywhere. CBLs traveled across half the floor. The slot was a foreign concept. Guys were taking women who could only handle one turn and trying to crank them around 3 or 4 times, with the expected results. Crazy aerials were the order of the day.

It didn't seem like there was a much of a culture of floorcraft at all - more like people just expected to crash into each other and therefore didn't even blink when it happened. My partners would just spin me whenever, and if the lady behind me happened to be taking a (ginormous) backstep into my spin, well, too bad for both of us.

I did have one - just one! - really wonderful dance, somehow fit in the 15 minutes between the end of the boring lesson and the onset of madness. It made the whole night worthwhile. Thank you, dude with the German writing on your tee shirt. :)

I also got one total @sshat. He asked me near the end of one song, we only danced a few bars so I asked if he wanted to go through the next song. He said "so you like what you see, eh?" Whatever. Then when I missed a lead at one point he said "I am testing your limits." Thanks for letting me know, big guy. (He wasn't a great leader either, just so-so. I could tell you why I think I missed the lead but that would look petty, heh.) Then at one point when I followed something he must have thought was difficult he said "Good job!" in this really patronizing way. I wanted to paste him one.

I left at 11:15, so maybe things got better later (but several of the patrons told me the whole thing closes down by 12).


Somebody at Monsoon suggested I should check this place out tomorrow night. I do have a few hours to kill before my plane leaves but I'm not sure I want to get on a redeye all sweaty, so I might have to pass.
Click to expand...


lolololololololololol ..... that so fits my impression of LA Salsa .... have fun
 
alemana said:
icky!
Click to expand...
Yes. So, so icky. I am considering moving to LA next year but I don't want to turn into that! (OTOH it is totally ridiculous that salsa is figuring so prominently into my life decisions...)

Btw are there no LA salser@s on this board? (Sorry in advance for bashing your scene - it was just one place though.) Seems funny given the size of the scene there. It seemed much bigger than the NYC scene, with probably 4-10 salsa choices on any given night rather than 1-2. On the other hand LA is like ten NYCs stuck together and smooshed out across 50x the geographical area. (Although I just googled their population and it says it's only 4 million? I don't see how that can be true... wonder what the geographical boundaries are for that estimate.)
 
forgot to add - go to the talk forums and especially the General page, has the most people and theyr will give you the best info on LA salsa scene.
 
LA has plenty of great salsa spots thank you very much. Here are just a few suggestions.....

Monsoon is on the Third Street Promenade..hence lots of tourists and locals with nothing to do, not necessarily serious dancers.

Granada-I have been to Granada many times, it has an amazing main dance floor, (bowling ally wood) and 2 smaller ones. The dancers range from newbies in the early part of the evening as they have lessons, to experienced and professionals. I have never had any problems with people not respecting space there.

Mama Juanas also has a good crowd but if you hate crowded dance floors then avoid MJ..it gets packed. If you do go to MJ, be really careful about where you park, they LOVE to ticket in that area.

Steven's has a great reputation for many many years but I've never been there.

Mayan-Avoid the Mayan unless you want to witness the classic meat market but drive by and check out the building, it's amazing.

Rumba Room-Avoid the Rumba Room in Universal City for the same reason as Monsoon, it's on Universal Walk thus lots of tourists. It's also overpriced. 8.00 for parking and 15.00 cover.

Rio-On Sunday afternoons there is salsa at Rio in Encino. Great big dancefloor! More of a family atmosphere there, it's also a restaurant.

Casa Escobar-Sunday nights there is salsa at Casa Escobar in Marina Del Rey..also a small dancefloor but people seem to know how to handle spacial issues. They have 3 different level lessons there beginner, intermediate and advance.

Havana on Sunset is a nice spot as well, decent dance floor and seasoned dancers but call before going, thier hours change and I have not been there in a while.

Floridita on Vine street in Hollywood also attracts a very nice salsa crowd and they have great food.

There is also a great Rueda group that meets in Griffith Park every Sunday, they begin with a lesson then dance for 2 hours+. There are also several social groups that go out dancing several times per week if you are hesitant about going solo. In the summer there are tons of outdoor salsa events.

Conga Room- I am not a fan, but it has closed and will re-open in downtown LA...so it would be worth checking out when it re-opens.

Hope that helps!
 
The Boorish L.A. Salsa Scene

I live in L.A. and have been dancing salsa for over 10 years. The L.A. salsa scene is getting worse and worse each year. It is dominated by a bunch of rude, inconsiderate, and trashy people who believe their mediocre dancing is top notch. I have suffered a sprained ankle and numerous bruises and scratches, and been tripped and fallen to the floor numerous times, all at the hands of rude and trashy men and girls who never have the courtesy to acknowledge the injuries they have inflicted, much less apologize. In addition, the scene is dominated by men of all ages stuck in adolescence who for the most will prefer an Asian or other girl under 30 with mostly limited dancing skills and dressed like a hooker. These girls chase these guys down for a dance which feeds these male egos already over-inflated by the erroneous belief that they are God's gift to salsa (and trashy girls). Even some of these men are self-appointed "instructors" who have developed their own cliquish following consisting of the aforementioned riff-raff. So if you dance in a manner considerate of others and for the love of the music and for the love of the dance, or if you are a mature and self-confident man who is secure in your own ego, or if you are an over-30 self-confident and secure female who refuses to dress like a hooker, or refuses to chase men down for a dance, be forewarned that you will not meet people like yourself in the L.A. salsa scene.
 
Oh, no! I'm going to LA this weekend and I'm an over-30 self-confident and secure female who refuses to dress like a hooker!

Is there no hope???
 
Lol, you'll do just fine, Mathina. ;) :) When are you making your next trip down here to Atlanta?
 
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